Iraqi military kills senior ISIL commander in Salahuddin

The Iraqi military has killed a major general of former Ba’athi regime who was a senior commander of the Takfiri ISIL group during a cleanup operation in Iraq’s troubled northern province of Salahuddin.

According to a statement released by the Iraqi Defense Ministry on Tuesday, the ISIL provincial commander, whose name has not been released, was killed after Iraqi fighter jets carried out precision strikes in the province.

The statement further said that the slain militant was a major general of former dictator Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime.

Iraqi warplanes also bombarded ISIL positions in the town of al-Dujail, some 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, killing 17 ISIL members and destroying a communications center run by the militants in the process. No reference has been made to the death toll among Iraqi army forces in the report.

Additionally, a dozen ISIL Takfiris were killed as Iraqi jets conducted airstrikes against militant hideouts in the town of Husaybah, which lies seven kilometers (4.5 miles) east of Anbar’s provincial capital city of Ramadi.

Two vehicles used by the militants were also destroyed during the aerial attacks.

Four other ISIL extremists were killed on Tuesday as units of Iraqi government forces carried out an operation in the town of al-Karma, located 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

More than two dozen terrorist hideouts, an armored personnel carrier, a workshop used for making improvised explosive devices as well as four cars rigged with explosives were also destroyed in the process.

Separately, Iraqi army troopers backed by fighters from Popular Mobilization units managed to retake control of the directorate of defense in the strategic northern town of Beiji, located some 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Baghdad.

Iraqi forces are tightening the noose around ISIL terrorists in Anbar Province. They have already cut off aid routes to the militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Heidar al-Abadi said on Tuesday that “security forces have surrounded the Takfiri ISIL members,” pledging swift advances against the extremists.

ISIL militants seized some parts of Anbar in early 2014 and captured Ramadi earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Iraqi troops and Popular Mobilization forces have recently pushed the Takfiri terrorists out of several cities.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been the scene of clashes since ISIL started its campaign of terror in the Arab country early June 2014.